Rice Noodles

This satisfying Thai-inspired soup has been adapted from two sources: We found it in Food and Wine's "Best of the Best" (Food and Wine Books, $29.95), a compilation of 25 of the year's top cookbooks that included this recipe from "Ken Hom's Quick Wok." Use vegetable broth if you want to make this dish completely vegetarian. Thai-style rice noodles in soup Preparation time: 15 minutes Soaking time: 25 minutes Cooking time: 12 minutes Yield: 6 servings 6 ounces flat dried rice...

Q: The recipe for "KFC" Korean fried chicken wings from this week's (Jan. 30, 2013) Good Eating sounds very good, and I'd like to try it. Can you tell me if sweet rice flour is the same as non-glutinous rice flour? I have the former if that will work. - Linda Doyne, Mundelein A: Sweet rice flour and non-glutinous rice flour are not the same. But Chef Phillip Lopez of New Orleans' Root restaurant, creator of the chicken wings recipe, says you can substitute one for the other.

Q: The recipe for "KFC" Korean fried chicken wings from this week's (Jan. 30, 2013) Good Eating sounds very good, and I'd like to try it. Can you tell me if sweet rice flour is the same as non-glutinous rice flour? I have the former if that will work. - Linda Doyne, Mundelein A: Sweet rice flour and non-glutinous rice flour are not the same. But Chef Phillip Lopez of New Orleans' Root restaurant, creator of the chicken wings recipe, says you can substitute one for the other.

Spicy sipper with sass We find many colas too sweet. Q Kola isn't. It is, though, a crisp capture of cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander and cloves, sweetened with agave, balanced with lemon, lime and orange, and fizzed up nicely. Kola nut provides its kick, plus a touch of caffeine; so does caffeine extract. The calorie and sugar counts? They're a bit less than similar nondiet soft drinks. Suggested retail price for a four-pack of 8-ounce bottles: $7.99. For a store locater or to buy, go to qkola.com . ...

Noodlemania is about as new to Chicago as Italian restaurants. But even as the pasta noodle strained to take center stage, Asian noodle shops boiled over into the emerging landscape. A sampling: - Penny's Noodle Shop, 950 W. Diversey Pkwy. and 3400 N. Sheffield Ave., was among the first to make Asian noodle specialties trendy: vermicelli noodles flavored with sliced beef, chicken and pork to Udon noodles, topped with Japanese mountain vegetables, fish cake and green onions in...

Who eats: Businesspeople, locals Why eat: Upscale French-Vietnamese food with a flare. Ambience: As this River North restaurant's name suggests, the vibe is French colonial, with white table cloths, dark wood, lazily spinning ceiling fans, bamboo shades and huge tropical plants, making it feel like you're in a Saigon mansion. On nice days, the outdoor seating is pleasant, with lush planters forming a soothing counterbalance to bustling Rush Street. Dress code: ...

Complicated sauces and esoteric ingredients can put many Thai dishes out of range for novice cooks, but King of Siam, a Northbrook company, helps solve that problem with a line of sauces, marinades and other Thai foods. Among them are peanut sauce and a satay marinade (neither of which contains high-fat coconut milk) and pad Thai sauce, rice noodles and a basic seasoning sauce. In deference to American tastes, none contain monosodium glutamate, and spicing is on the mild side....

Pad Thai, which means "Thai-style frying," is one of my favorite fried noodle dishes. The noodles are softened and then stir-fried along with eggs, bean sprouts, shrimp and peanuts. You can find the cellophane noodles at your local Asian market or any supermarket with an Asian section. What distinguish these noodles are the garnishes that make it colorful as well as delicious. Use as little or as much of the crushed red chili pepper as your guests will like, since it's very potent.

We've been fascinated with mee krob, a classic Thai dish of crisped noodles, ever since we saw a step-by-step photo essay in that old Time-Life Books "Foods of the World" series. Eggs transformed into a lacy doily-like shape. Rice noodles fried into a puffed up, squiggly nest. A tamarind-and-sugar-sweet meat sauce. Feathered green onion stalks. Crisp bean sprouts. Shrimp. Pork. The mix of sweet, crunchy, cool -- a good contrast to a Thai meal that might also include coconut-based sauces or spicy entrees.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - By the time my plane landed here, my travel companion, Vung Nguyen, 22 years my junior and a Vietnamese native, was already waiting for me at the hotel pool with her 5-year-old niece. They had brought me a gift from the local market: chom chom, a peculiar but delicious fruit with red porcupine skin and a soft inside. The gift set the perfect mood for our culinary adventure. Vung and I had met 10 years ago through a mentoring program, and now we would...

What impresses me most about Asian cooking is its high level of preparedness. The advance preparation done by Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other Asian cooks may be due in part to the fact that many of their recipes call for so many different ingredients, particularly in sauces and condiments. It just makes sense to measure and mix as much as possible in advance. As a perfect example of this principle, look no further than pad Thai, the popular noodle dish.

Flexible and easy main-course salads pile on vegetables, keep kitchen cool Summer days dissolve like sugar in hot tea — quickly and sweetly. On hot summer days, we blissfully go from outdoor grill to kitchen counter making our seasonal favorites. Dinners alternate between grilled proteins and main-dish salads that transport easily to the deck or picnic site. Often, some of the grilled proteins end up in the main-course salads — a match made in heaven. Especially when plenty of fresh, local produce...

By Linda Burum, Tribune photos by Charles Osgood. Linda Burum is a California food writer and the author of ``Asian Pasta, A Cook`s Guide to the Noodles, Wrappers and Pasta Creations of the East,`` and ``Frozen Delights,`` forthcoming in April) | March 5, 1987

If you love pad Thai, Chinese lo mein, potstickers or translucent cellophane noodles, you already are an Asian pasta fan. And while Italy has been given credit for the current pasta rage, discovering Asia's fabulous noodles and wrappers is the next logical step for serious pasta lovers. Chicago's interest in the whole range of these doughstuffs is mushrooming, and the pastas now can be found in supermarkets and trendy eateries. For the amateur pasta fan, though, the best place to start learning about Oriental...

Because cooking is our family pastime, we rarely order takeout. When we do, we crave dishes too cumbersome to cook, such as complicated Indian dishes and Asian stir-fries. Another case in point: the Singapore noodles from our local Asian noodle shop. The dish's combination of Chinese-style stir-fried veggies, tender shrimp and barbecued pork, along with a heady curry sauce, always intrigues. Challenged to make this at home, we looked at several recipes by noted authors Ken...

`We can eat one meal in Chicago, and it's got to be Thai." The request was to help placate a lusty longing for tom yum soup. Having lived in Singapore and traveled extensively in Thailand, the hope was that a stop in Chicago would recall the flavors and aromas. Chicago has many Thai restaurants but Thai Touch came to mind. Said by some to be one of the best, a new Lincoln Park site made this the choice. Thai Touch has been in Albany Park for four years. Owner Art Lee recently added a...

The Vietnamese (and Chinese) New Year begins Jan. 26. Pauline Nguyen's recent cookbook/memoir, "Secrets of the Red Lantern," which features recipes by her chef brother Luke Nguyen, is filled with dishes that can be easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled, depending on the size of your party (or parties). The celebration lasts a week; the color red -- firecrackers, suckling pig, duck, red clothing, flowers and fruit -- are traditional. This recipe for pho from the book originally...

By Jay Ferrari. Special to Metromix. Jay Ferrari is a Chicago freelance writer | July 6, 1999

Tucked into a small spot on Clark Street amid sushi spots, sports bars and reggae music clubs, La Paillotte is a best bet for post-Cubs or pre-theater dining. Nevermind the no-frills setting -- the hiss and clank of the kitchen provides the only ambience in the plain dining room -- because the cooking is especially satisfying. For fans of Southeast Asian cuisine, the dishes, made from recipes the owners brought from Vietnam, will be familiar. The goi du du, for example, is an...

First impressions: Tuan Nguyen, who co-owned the now-shuttered Pasteur, has opened an oasis amid the Lincoln Avenue bar scene. He called the place Simply It to emphasize, he said, the "nothing fancy" food. The dining room soothes with walls of chile red and sage green. Beautiful paintings of trees in abstract settings draw the eye without being distracting. Families are welcome; a table of several adults and preschoolers was a touch rowdy, but treated warmly. On the plate:...

The Vietnamese (and Chinese) New Year begins Jan. 26. Pauline Nguyen's recent cookbook/memoir, "Secrets of the Red Lantern," which features recipes by her chef brother Luke Nguyen, is filled with dishes that can be easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled, depending on the size of your party (or parties). The celebration lasts a week; the color red -- firecrackers, suckling pig, duck, red clothing, flowers and fruit -- are traditional. This recipe for pho from the book originally...